Newly-appointed Pennsylvania federal District Judge Robert Mariani is getting the best education a new jurist could get – a real life lesson in what it means to have the fundamental right to not have property taken without due process of law. The res (property) at issue is Steve Conklin's farm, Satori Farm, in northern York County, as discussed in our December 6 Call to Action post.
Due process, in the courts, means hearings, or, more precisely, “notice and an opportunity to respond”. Notice is the “what must I defend against” and opportunity to respond is “what evidence do you have to support your claim”, and the hearing in court, or trial, if you will, is where the evidence is tested. That is the right every American citizen has under our Constitution before property is taken. That is “due process of law”.
Steve Conklin has placed that very simple, yet fundamentally important, issue directly in the hands of Judge Mariani, a lesson in constitutional law 101 for the new judge appointed for life. The essence of Steve Conklin’s claim before Judge Mariani is that he has never been provided with any hearing whatsoever; yet the York County Sheriff’s Office and State Police were … Continue Reading ››